The area’s significant development began towards the end of the 2nd Seminole War. In March of 1837, William Lauderdale and a group of volunteers constructed three forts along the river – one at the fort, another at Tarpon Bend, and the third near present-day Bahia Mar Marina. A handful of businesspeople came to the area in 1892, building the first road from Lantana to Lemon City. They found the new river intersected the road, so, in 1893, Frank Stranahan entered the scene. Recognizing the need, Stranahan started a ferry company. What began as a small operation turned into an overnight stagecoach stop, a camp where travelers, business people, and Seminoles could meet to trade. 1894 to 1895 brought the Big Freeze, and the Florida agriculture industry took a hit. Around the same time, Henry Flagler was working on the Florida East Coast Railway. Flagler allowed his friend Nathaniel Bryan to build the rail connecting to Fort Lauderdale. Mr. Bryan, along with his two eldest sons, Reid and Thomas, relocated from New Smyrna to the Southeast Florida area. On February 22, 1896, the first steam engine arrived in Fort Lauderdale.
Like most areas in Florida, the train’s arrival pumped the growth, and Fort Lauderdale was on its way to becoming a commercial and agricultural hub. In August of 1900, Frank Stranahan married Ivy Julia Cromartie (Stranahan), and the two enlisted Edwin T. King, one of the founding Fort Lauderdale contractors, to build them a home. This home became the city post office, community center, and trading post, a monumental turn toward the city becoming an official municipality. With a solid year-round population, in 1911, the City of Fort Lauderdale was incorporated. William H. Marshall was elected the first mayor.
Stranahan, the Oliver Brothers, and other investors started opening businesses in downtown Fort Lauderdale. At the same time, Ed King builds a boatyard under management by Reid Bryan. The team crafted dredges to cut the north and south river canals, which created a direct route from the east agricultural areas surrounding Lake Okeechobee to the Fort Lauderdale Rail Head. Due to the ease of access from west to east and east to west, the city became known as a top wintertime vegetable market. Charlie Rhodes and the Stilwell brothers came to the area in the 1920s. They made way for the development of Las Olas Blvd, and Fort Lauderdale became interchangeable with Idlewild and Venice. In addition, the early 1920s brought Joseph Young to the area. He purchased land around lake Mabel where he began to build Port Everglades. He sought to grow the economy past tourism and agriculture.
In congruence with the Florida Land Boom of the 1920s, the City of Fort Lauderdale experienced an acceleration in population, growth, and expansion. Development ceased when the Hurricane of 1926 hit, killing 243 people and costing more than 1.5 billion in damage in today’s dollar. Young persevered, and Port Everglades formally opened in 1928. Throughout the 1930s, the population continued to grow, but the speed slowed dramatically, and by the end of the decade, around 18,000 people called Fort Lauderdale home. In the late 1930s and into the early 1940s, city officials sent messages to Washington offering their ports and airfields to assist the country during World War 2. Merril Fog Field became a naval air station, and Port Everglades became the site of a U.S. Navy base. Eventually, the Naval air station became today’s Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport.
After the war, investors flocked to the area as the city saw the most considerable population boom since the early 1920s. Commercial and residential development increased, and the construction of hotels on the beach began. Although people had been traveling to Fort Lauderdale since the 1920s, the city wasn’t the Spring Break destination it is today until the release of the 1960 film, Where the Boys Are. Starring Dolores Hart, George Hamilton, and Yvette Mimieux, “Where the Boys Are” was filmed and set in Fort Lauderdale. The story follows four college girls who drive to Fort Lauderdale for Spring Break. The film’s popularity sprung the city’s reputation as “Fun in the Sun.”
Living in one of the diverse Fort Lauderdale 55+ Communities offers history buffs much to explore. The Fort Lauderdale Historical Society is a terrific place to start!
